It seems all I’ve been doing of late is sowing and sewing! I find both to be “sow/sew” therapeutic. What is it that takes you away from it all? Step into my world for a millisecond of joy…
PORTER & KAUAI – Garden Keepers and Tour Guides
First, let’s visit the garden and see how it’s doing. Kauai and Porter will be your guides. They’ve asked if you could please hold any questions you may have until the end of the tour. 
Shall we begin? Take it away, Porter! Porter will show us the progress of our zucchini plants, tomatoes and cucumbers.
The zucchinis are going like gang busters and the bugs and critters don’t seem to bother them. Our tomatoes: the yellow pear tomatoes are producing nicely. The grape tomatoes actually look like mini roma’s. The roma’s seem to be growing slowly. Anticipation is killin’ me! Looking forward to “gettin’ saucy” and making our homemade raw marinara sauce once we have a few ripe roma’s. At least there are no pests bothering the tomato plants. The pineapple heirloom tomato just started to show 5 tomatoes. Better than last year … not a one! The heirlooms are a close second (to the roma’s) growing at a snails pace. Hopefully, they will be worth the wait! Lastly, on Porter’s portion of the tour we have our seedless/burpless cucumbers. We were a wee bit nervous at the beginning of their growing cycle. The stems looked weak and yellowish, only to surprise us what seemed like overnight to green up and sprout 3 little cukes! I’m pickled, or tickled rather! (Couldn’t resist!) Well, that wraps up Porter’s half of the tour.
Kauai, you have the floor, or ground in this case.
He will be sharing with you the progress of our kale, swiss chard, banana peppers, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers and green beans.
In our garden the kale is KING! We have two different varieties: Curly and Dinosaur. The dehydrator awaits you! I smell kale chips and crackers in the very near future. Dreaming up different kinds of salads to use the kale as a base. Funny, the pests aren’t even going near the kale, but have taste tested the swiss chard regularly. We mainly grow the swiss chard for juicing, so the “swiss cheese” design in the leaves aren’t a big deal! Our peppers have been nibbled on by our return guest, or pest shall I rephrase, Mr. Bunny. Just the leaves have been nibbled on and the plants appear to be hanging in there. We’ll see. Sadly, Kauai has to report that Mr. Bunny devoured the green bean plant. With both Kauai and Porter’s super sleuth skills they found where that screwy rabbit was getting in and 86′ed him from this garden! Good job, Boys!
Kauai and Porter patiently await a token reward for their services.
Off limits to our two spotted guides, just down the hill, a ways from our garden, are the fruit trees. (I’ll save the deets for another post!) It is so rewarding to reap the benefits of growing your own! Fresh off the vine, ripened tomatoes. Crisp, juicy cucumbers. Succulent, sweet blueberries and raspberries. Sun kissed, juicy plums, nectarines and apricots. And don’t forget about the tart and quenching lemons! Feels like heaven!!! Just knowing there are no herbicides or pesticides that would be transferred into our bodies is rewarding enough for me!
Taking a break from the garden, let’s see what I’ve been stitching up in the sewing room.
I made this quilt for my Dad (he’s a hot rodder) for Father’s Day this year. A labor of love!
A wall hanging for my cousin for her birthday.
A set of “Elvis” coasters for a dear friend.
A small wall hanging for my Aunt “Zeeb” cuz I love her!
I’ve been having so much fun in the sewing room since my Mom taught me how to sew last year (October). Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? It is healthy to have an “outlet” of sorts to release stress, tension or just get your creative juices flowing. Whether I’m sporting my green thumb or you find me all pinned up in fabric…I’m a happy girl!
That about sums it up, for now! Hope you enjoyed the tour and “show and tell” session. Enjoy your summer and remember to embrace the moment!
xo
Awesome blog today!! I love your puppies. They are too cute!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you, Kathy!
I’m kinda partial to them myself! Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! Have a great day!
The garden is fantastic and what knowledgeable tour guides. The quilts turned out beautifully, you are such a perfect student. What fun we have. Great job!